of heaven, from the farthest parts of the heaven to the utmost bounds of them." [1] At the sound of the trumpet the dead shall arise. The just found living upon earth in that day and the just who arise from the dead shall be caught up into the air to meet Christ and be united with Him forever. "The dead who are with Christ shall arise first. Then we who are alive, who are left shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ into the air and so shall we be always with the Lord." [2]
The wicked still living on earth and those raised up from the dead shall also be brought to judgment. Both good and bad are judged according to their works; "they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life," and shall hear those words of Christ: "Come ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." [3] But they that have done evil shall hear those words of eternal judgment: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels." [4]
The words of St. Paul, "the dead who are with Christ shall rise first," do not mean that the resurrection of the just will take place before that of the wicked. St. Paul was writing to correct the erroneous belief of the Thessalonians that the just who are alive at the
